Deadliest Catch – After The Catch V – “Low Tides”

Welcome everyone to a special recap edition of Deadliest Catch!!! It’s After the Catch time and we’re in Season 5 now. This won’t be the type of recap you’re used to from me, there were so many f bombs dropped last night you’d think it was going out of style and I simply couldn’t get it verbatim. BUT, here’s what went down and a summarizing of what was said!

We opened with Sig, Johnathan, Andy and Keith sitting at a table in a bar in Oahu, Hawaii. Mike Rowe is the moderator, of course! The first thing they reflected on was how fast the last year has gone by and how crazy the weather was during Opies. Mike then had to pull the “there will be tears” card by reflecting on how this was the first full season without Phil. LOVE that they have Phil’s picture up, that mullet haired teddy bear should ALWAYS be there. Then we got footage of last year’s life celebration for Phil in New Orleans, and after that they showed the opening scene from the Season 7 premiere. That was a great moment, seriously, and I’m so glad it was done. More shots of Phil after that. Then the Harris boys joined them at the table. Jake said that Phil would’ve loved his send off, with the fireworks and explosives.

Mike then brought up something I’d never thought of. He reflected as a fan how close those boats were together when they gathered to bury Phil at sea. Josh noted that the majority of the captains were on the Cornelia Marie at that time too but that there was no other way it could have been done, and it was done beautifully. He also talked about how that was the only time the weather was truly nice. Isn’t that interesting? Remember last year when Phil was in the final fight for his life, and the seas were raging, and when he passed they calmed again and the guys had the best fishing of the season?

Another laugh out loud moment; Keith was on top of his stack, about 40 feet up, when Johnathan started shooting his gun off after Phil’s ashes were released. He laughed that Phil was with him so as not to get shot (no, it wasn’t meant that Johnathan was actually going to shoot him either).

So the next thing we know Mike asks the boys what it was like returning to the boat. Obviously, Jake said that boat didn’t have the same feeling without his dad. Sig then remarked that he couldn’t go by the Cornelia Marie without thinking about him. Keith piped in that it was a big personality to leave behind, with John saying it was a big void. Mike, at this point, asks us all to take a look at how the best of intentions can go sideways. Cue CM footage from king crab season. After the footage Jake thanks god that it’s over. Sig gets asked as a captain what his thoughts were on the situation. Sig was glad he wasn’t there and that it was tough for Derrick to step onto a family boat like that. It was a no win situation. Keith made a point in that each boat has it’s own personality. At this point Josh said a new person needed to be put in there (I think); he said that Derrick went about it the wrong way and that before they went out Derrick had promised them they’d catch. Then he talked about how he and Jake were degraded by him, and how they were out of pocket for money and actually were in the hole by $267,000. Sig did ask who worried about the cost before that, and I think Josh said himself (but again, not sure).

Josh then proceeded to ask Sig, Keith, Johnathan and Andy if any of them would have talked smack about Phil coming onto that boat and each one replied with an emphatic “no”. Sig asked, at this point, why Josh had to concern himself with the fuel issues and perhaps had bitten off more than he could chew. Josh pointed out that Derrick did a great job as a captain, but he messed up by knocking Phil. He was guaranteed a paycheck and none of the crew were. Keith then joked “Welcome to being a boat owner”. Josh said that they didn’t want to go for blue crab, but it’s all they had. Johnathan surmised that it was a losing situation.

Commercial and then they came back. John and Andy had left the table (and despite some claims by various fans on Facebook, there’s no confirmation on why they left the table). Derrick, Sig, Keith and the boys were there. There is no way on god’s green earth I can transcribe the clusterfudge that was this confrontation so I’ll do my best to summarize it:

– Keith fished side by side with Derrick in the past and would give him a strong reference.

– Derrick brought 30K pounds of his own red crab quota, and they leased out 115K from other boats, including the Wizard.

At this point the kaka hit the Hawaiian fan. F bombs, finger pointing, Derrick wanted to take the boys outside and beat their butts. F you’s, f you back’s. A lot of yelling. What I took from it was that Derrick was put in a tough spot, was frustrated by the entire situation and was taking it out this way. Josh and Jake were ticked about the way they were treated by Derrick, didn’t like their pop being dissed and didn’t like being told to ask questions but when they did being told they were dumb questions. More f bombs, more finger pointing. Derrick tries to walk away, Josh wants him to be reasonable and not leave. Mike says to Josh that he’s yelling and to stop and listen to him (but heck, after the trashing Derrick did of the boys in the press, I could understand their not wanting to either). At this point they watched more clips of the failed crab season as Mike attempted to call order. But when they came back it was just Keith, Sig and Todd Stanley at the table. Whoops, failed to mention that during the fracas Todd Stanley came out to try and break it up.

Todd remarked he had to intervene a lot during that season, and that it had happened when Phil was around too. Todd’s summary was that Derrick came on board, in his mind he wanted to fish, but the crew was used to doing their own thing and he got frustrated. That it was a loosey goosey easy going ship and Derrick wanted it tightly run (I’m paraphrasing).

Another break. Sig, Keith, Todd and Elliott Neese. Elliott didn’t seem happy with his portrayal on the show so far, said that all they showed was his downfalls and none of his glory. He also said he’d dealt with some BS from people on the show too. (Not sure if he meant Disco or other guys on the show, but if it’s the other guys, he kinda did call them out preseason). Apparently Neese was bugged sometimes by Todd askign the same question over and over again as well, but honestly, it almost seemed like the same type of relationship Todd and Phil had at the start (NO, it’s not replacing Phil). Elliott also felt like Wild Bill could mess up because he was so much older than Neese and it didn’t seem fair. Sig did remind him that you have to build your way up to it. But in the end, Todd did a cool thing by saying he was proud of Elliott.

After the next Coors Light sponsored break we got shots of Sig yelling for Edgar on the boat, and then in real time he yelled for him once more. This was probably one of the coolest moments of this night because Sig talked about Edgar being the heart of the boat. Andy and John were back, and John said when Sig/Edgar saw them hug the first time it was odd since they didn’t that often…but that he and Andy made them hug too. Hilarious! Then Sig and Edgar half hugged at the bar. Edgar talked about having to step up on deck because a lot of the duties fell to him and when the crap hit the fan on the boat he’d either take the blame or step up and take care of it. Keith then started the birthing of the best Deadliest Catch catchphrase ever by saying every boat has to have an Edgar. Before Keith could say who his Edgar was, more clips of Edgar’s greatest hits were shown. John says when things happen such as the power outage the Northwestern had, you have to have a guy that knows where to go and when to go. Keith said that situation happened to him once and that his Edgar was his brother Mouse. Edgar remarked that if you don’t have an Edgar, then the captain is the go to guy and John said that this is the reason people watch the show….because of guys like Edgar. After the break, we saw some fantastic shots of Sig and Edgar trying to surf (boards with paddles). But hey, before that break Sig and Edgar hugged again!

Nick Mavar was brought out at this point and Sig said that he totally loved him. I guess Nick is older than Sig too, I didn’t know that. But Nick pointed out that when Sig and Edgar got into it, that he was the middle man. Mike then asked Edgar if he was going to keep going in the manner that Edgar described Nick…the Energizer bunny. Edgar said he didn’t know, and we see clips of his departure from the Northwestern this season. Mike made a good point in that in this business you don’t get in quick and you don’t get out quick. Edgar pointed out that he needed to see if he could break the cycle and that he needed to see if he could leave it. It was a love and passion before and it wasn’t now. Lol, then Edgar passed out fliers about his new remodeling work and hopes to create a company from it. He says he loves being at home but in his heart he’s a fisherman too. An interesting proposal was brought to Sig at this point by Edgar; he’d come back on deck for king crab, but he wanted to run the boat for Opies. Sig was honestly stunned by this and did attempt to point out that the trip Nick took with Edgar, Nick had said he wouldn’t do it again. Nick, however, said that’s not what he said. He feels safe with Sig but trusts Edgar with the boat too. The issue was the Opie season they had, and it was nasty. Keith made a point that Opies is a bad season to be broken into as a captain but Nick was confident that Edgar could do it.

Wild Bill was brought in at this point and we got a funny segment on him at a fish auction in Hawaii. Bill was actually a good auctioneer but he said no way would he give up crabbing for it. The real auctioneer was there too, Brooks Takenaka, who brought several different dishes for everyone to try including a hilarious one that Mike joked about being named what sounded like poo poo. Johnathan dove right into eating his dish and seemed to like it, but also attempted to cook it more with his lighter. I’m laughing so hard at this point that I’m crying once again. With that, the episode was over. Whew! If this weeks’ was this intense, I can’t wait to see what happens next ! Tune in again and find out!

C. Jordan is an avid pop culture enthusiast and writer who currently resides in Iowa. In the 1990's, she lived in in the midst of Hollywood, California where she appeared in several television shows and low budget films, such as Crocodile Tears and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (uncredited). She now continues her passion for all things reality and entertainment here, helping to create The Yak! She is also pursuing work in the medical administration field, having gone back to school and earning her degree in Medical Office Management. She also has a B.A. in Psychology.